Electric sign



July 12, 1932. E HTER 1,867,516

ELECTRIC SIGN Filed June 2, 1951 INVENTOR lg z-ahamleich {e1- ATTORNEYS Patented July 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATE ABRAHAM LEICHTER, OF NEW YORK,

ELECTRIC SIGN Application filed June 2, 1931. seriai nasnsas This invention relates to an electric sign and has for an object to provide an improved changeable sign memberswhich do not pre sent a background to the neon tube sign member.

Inthe accompanying drawing,-

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electric sign disclosing an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view 25 through Figure 1 on line 22.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view through the sign shown in Figure 1, the section being taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2. p

Figure 4 is a sectional view through Figure 3 on line 44.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through Figure 2 on line 5--5.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary top plan view 35 of part of the sign box shown in Figure 1, but illustrating a modified form of neon tube receiving structure.

Figure 7 is a wiring diagram showing the circuits of the respective electrical members. Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 1 indicates a housing provided with a forward extension 2 which is open at the bottom as illustrated in Figure 1 where- V by a hood is provided for the reception of the respective lamps 3 and 4. These lamps are of any desired kind of electric lamps whereby light may be projected downwardly on the sign boards 5 and 6 which sign boards w carry removable sliding sign members 7 and 8., Associated with these sign members is the neon tube sign 9 which is shovvnasde" pending-from thebottom of thehousing or casing 1, though it could be positionedto extend upwardly therefrom or one endi'f desired. By o-sitioning the sign 9 "as set forth, the casing 1 does not act as a background therefor and consequ-ently 'the sign is merely suspended in the air without a background, thus permitting the best result. In

neon tube signs,'it has been found'that a background fitted'closely to the sign pro-' duces a hazy effect which is more or less' undesirable. By suspending the sign away from any background, the letters or parts thereof show up clearly and distinctly. By

the construction set forth, the neon tube sign clearly stands out and also'th'emembers 7 and 8 areclearly illuminated,thus" giving the effect of an ordinaryilluminatedsign and the effect of a neon tube suspendedaway from the background. The sign9 is of the usual construction including enlarged ends 10 and 11 as shown in Figure '3. Advantage has been taken of the fact that these"enlarged ends are essential to the sign and through their use, the sign has been properly supported. As illustrated in Figure 4, the bottom 12' of the casing 1 is provided with notches 13 and 14 extending from one edge to about the center. These notches aret-he width of the neon tubes of the sign 9 so that v the sign may he slid in laterally with enlargements 10 and 11 above the bottom and there maining part below the bottoms Thiswill cause the bottom of the enlarged portion to rest on the upper surface of the bottom 12. To preventundue swaying or'loose motion of the sign, filling bl0cks'15 and16arepro vided, said blocks acting as clamping means as shown in Figure l. Each of these blocks 1 is connectedto and supported by a flexible member 17 which is swingably secured by rivets or other means at 18to bottom'12. When it'isdesired to remove the'neon tube sign,- themembers17zare flexed upwardly andthenirotated until the clamping members i or blocks-15 and 1.6 are out of theway. I

the blocks'15 and 16 are secured. to the 're-f.

spective members17 they willb'e lifted. out I p the sign 9 will receive its proper current. As

whereby the plate is held tightly in position through the action of friction which is ample to hold the plate in positio'n as it is made from. very thin material, preferably sheet metal. After the back 19 has been placed in position, the blocks 15 and 16 are locked against. shifting movement.

Undersome circumstances, a slightly different structure is used, namely. the modified structure shown in Figure 6. In this form of the invention, the bottom 12 is pro-. vided with an aperture 22 which is of less size than the enlargementslO and 11 so that as the small part of the sign is forced past the narrow entrance 23, the enlargement may overlap part ofv the bottom 12 and rest thereon. The bottom part of th-e'enlargements 10 and-.11 taper somewhat so that they will project into the opening 22 and consequently cannot slide out of the opening.

As is well known, neon tube signs take rather high voltage, as for instance 12,000 volts for a certain length of tube. This high voltage is objectionable where it is to be carried a long distance and consequently the casing 1 is made sufficiently large so that a transformer 24 is mounted in the casing clamped thereto by suitable bolts 25. This transformer is only large enough to take care of the particular sign 9 and receives the current from. any suitable source through the supply cable 26. This supply cable supplies current also at 110'volts or other comparatively low voltage to lamps 3 and 4. Switches 27 and 28 may be interposed in the circuit of lamps 3 and 4' so that they may be turned on and off if desired withoutaifecting the tube sign 9. The high potential current leaves the transformer 24 through the respective wires 29 and 30 and are connected directly to the terminals of the sign as shown in Figure 3. In this way, if the switches 27 and 28 are closed, it will only be necessary to turn on current to the sign as a whole and the sign boards 5 and 6 will be illuminated and illustrated in Figure 7, the current entering in through the wires 31 and 32 is dist-ributed respectively to the lamps and the trans former. The wires 31 and 32 are usually arranged into a cable indicated by the cable 26 in Figure. 3. -In this way, a comparatively low voltage or ordinary house voltand age is led into the sign and the transformer steps up the current to the desired voltage for the neon sign, while the other electrically actuated devices use the current at line voltage.

I claim:

1. An electric sign including a. casing formedsubstantially L-shapedin cross section, one leg of the L being open, electric lamps arranged in said last mentioned leg, a transformer arranged in the other leg of said casing, a sign board carried exteriorly of said last mentioned leg and positioned to be illuminated by said lamps, and a neon tube sign carried by said casing with the main part spaced therebelow, said tube sign being electrically connected with said transformer toreceive currentrtherefrom, and means for directing house current into the casing, said means being connected with the transformer andwithsaid lamps. i

2. Inanelectric sign, a-casing, conductors for directing-current'into the casing, a transformer arranged in the casing connected with said conductors,.a neon tube. sign carried by the casing and connected to the outlet terminals of said transformer, 'said neon tube sign having enlargements at eachend, said casing having a slot near'each end for accommodating the end portions of said sign, said enlargements resting on the top of the bottom of the casing adjacent the slot, a clamping block arranged in each slot and means forming part of the casing for locking said blocks in place;

ABRAHAM LEICHTER. 

